School report cards out early

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - Local school districts may not be making the grade.

That's according to the latest statewide report card that came out Wednesday.

The reports were not expected to be released until later in the week. So, it surprised a lot of school leaders when preliminary results came out early.
 
Officials from the State Board of Education released the preliminary results due to an ongoing investigation regarding attendance at schools across Ohio.

While a lot of information was not included, Dayton Public School Superintendent Lori Ward, said it's clear they have their work cut out for them.

She said there were some areas of improvement, such as 10th and 11th grade graduation tests.

Graduation rates also jumped from 59 to 65 percent.

On the flip side, 3rd grade reading continues to be an area of great concern, at only 54 percent.

But, Ward said the problem starts much earlier than 3rd grade.

Only about 20 percent of the nearly 1000 kindergarten students in The Dayton Public School district are what they call "kindergarten-ready."

Ward said, "That can't be. But, when you are coming that far behind, you really have to look at not only your core instruction but also intervention. So, transformation means you have to start at the input, we have to strengthen, we have to strengthen how our babies come to school."

Ward really emphasizing the importance of working at home with students.

Dayton Public Schools is one of the districts that has state auditors taking a closer look at attendance numbers.
    
Also under scrutiny for attendance tampering are Springfield, Trotwood-Madison, Northridge and Jefferson Township Schools.

Because of the ongoing recounts, Wednesday's state report card omitted the attendance rate, performance index and overall rating.

When those are released, we will follow up with school officials for you.